Bottom Feeders Bracket/Futile Four 2010

[Freddie]

Re: Bottom Feeders Bracket/Futile Four 2010

Big important news!
There is no longer ice in the George Gipp Arena!

PERFECT!!!!!

Soft, mushy ice? Great!
Rough, bumpy ice? Fine!
NO ice? That's a problem.

The committee is considering the following courses of action:

1. Move the MW regional to the nearby Kenner Dome.
2a. Move the MW regional to Flowood Mississippi, and leave the FutileFour where it is (Flowood)
2b. Move the MW regional to Flowood, and send the FF to Laurium in HOPES that there will be ice there by then.
3. Leave the MW regional at Laurium, but make the teams rent roller blades.

We need your input. Army's team is leaving tonight for their 19+ hour bus trip, and they're going to call us from a pay phone in Walbridge Ohio and see if they should head north, or what.

[crazytechfan]

Re: Bottom Feeders Bracket/Futile Four 2010

Big important news!
There is no longer ice in the George Gipp Arena!

PERFECT!!!!!

[huskyfan]

Re: Bottom Feeders Bracket/Futile Four 2010

those Ivy league boys are gonna love Laurium!

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Bottom Feeders Bracket/Futile Four 2010

Ouch.

Instead of Ford Pintos, I feel they should be using bike taxis. That way you are limited to local roads only, and have the added benefit of not being able to go very far without killing the driver.

Better yet, don't provide drivers.

Why are we talking about this? I just expected all of the teams to stay at the arena, sleeping bags on the ice!

[BUT09]

Re: Bottom Feeders Bracket/Futile Four 2010

At one point when I was a kid, my town switched leagues. We went from having a bunch of games at Marlboro's NESC to having a bunch of games in Saugus. That's like trading in a Mercedes for a Ford Pinto.

Ouch.

Instead of Ford Pintos, I feel they should be using bike taxis. That way you are limited to local roads only, and have the added benefit of not being able to go very far without killing the driver.

Better yet, don't provide drivers.

[HighToTheGloveSide]

Re: Bottom Feeders Bracket/Futile Four 2010

Saugus MA
1. HolyCross
2. Mercyhurst
3. Niagara
4. RobertMorris

Upon further review how could the tournament committee invite a team that has victories over Miami (two wins in Oxford) Bemidji State (two wins and a tie) and NCAA tournament qualifier Alabama-Huntsville (two wins)???????

Eastern bias, eastern bias, eastern bias!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hockeyplayer1015]

Re: Bottom Feeders Bracket/Futile Four 2010

I have heard talk that the Amish who live in the Massena area would be available to shuttle the players around by horse buggy. I told them our people would call their people, but upon second thought, they probably don't have phones.

The convenience here is obviously that they live about 30 minutes away by car, so it would take them several hours just to come pick up the teams from wherever they are staying.

[Freddie]

Re: Bottom Feeders Bracket/Futile Four 2010

At one point when I was a kid, my town switched leagues. We went from having a bunch of games at Marlboro's NESC to having a bunch of games in Saugus. That's like trading in a Mercedes for a Ford Pinto.

What an amazing coincidence. The BFB just signed a deal with Rent-a-Wreck to provide 1974 Ford Pintos as courtesy cars at the tournament sites.

[Federal League]

Re: Bottom Feeders Bracket/Futile Four 2010

I played hockey weekly at the rink hosting the regional...

At one point when I was a kid, my town switched leagues. We went from having a bunch of games at Marlboro's NESC to having a bunch of games in Saugus. That's like trading in a Mercedes for a Ford Pinto.

[BUT09]

Re: Bottom Feeders Bracket/Futile Four 2010

I know that you've been to Kelly's Roast Beef!

(Then again, there's one on the beach in Revere)

I played hockey weekly at the rink hosting the regional...

But Kelly's at 10 am on a Sunday never really appealed to me, so I've actually only been to the one in Revere.

[Terrier520]

Re: Bottom Feeders Bracket/Futile Four 2010

Don't worry. No one wants to go to Saugus.

I know that you've been to Kelly's Roast Beef!

(Then again, there's one on the beach in Revere)

[Beer Pong Horn]

Re: Bottom Feeders Bracket/Futile Four 2010

So here they are, cast in stone:

Moscow ID
1. AIC
2. Clarkson
3. MichiganTech
4. Providence

You certainly negated the intra-conference matchups, but the Legion of **** is far too well represented in Moscow.

[Federal League]

Re: Bottom Feeders Bracket/Futile Four 2010

The Saugus regional is loaded!!!!

Despite my failure to convince the committee to include the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the field I will be watching for score updates with great anticipation.

I can only hope the updates are late, uninformative and inaccurate.

[HighToTheGloveSide]

Re: Bottom Feeders Bracket/Futile Four 2010

The Saugus regional is loaded!!!!

Despite my failure to convince the committee to include the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the field I will be watching for score updates with great anticipation.

[Freddie]

Re: Bottom Feeders Bracket/Futile Four 2010

The BFB Committee just completed the brackets via conference call at 6:25pm EDT, only one and a half hours behind schedule! The conference call was delayed because one member of the committee was using the land line phone at Goober's Market in Parkersburg WV, and had to hang up every time Goober needed to use the line for a credit card authorization.

Here are the final standings, according to FARTS (Freddie's Arbitrary Ranking of Teams that Suck):

1. AIC (AHA Autobid)
2. Conn
3. Bentley
4. HolyCross
5. Army
6. BowlingGreen
7. Mercyhurst
8. Clarkson (ECAC Autobid)
9. MichiganTech (WCHA Autobid)
10. Harvard
11. Canisius
12. Dartmouth
13. AirForce
14. Niagara (CHA Autobid)
15. RobtMorris
16. Alabama-Huntsville
17. WesternMichigan (CCHA Autobid)
18. Princeton
19. SacredHeart
20. Brown
21. Providence (HEA Autobid)
22. Colgate
23. Rensselaer
24. Alaska-Anchorage
25. NotreDame

Eliminate any teams with LP (Losing Pct) below .560, as well as any teams committed to playing in that 'other tournament'. Teams eliminated from consideration: #11 Canisius, #13 AirForce, #16 Alabama-Huntsville, #20 SacredHeart, #22 Colgate, #23 Rensselaer, #25 NotreDame.

This leaves the TWITS (Teams With Inadequate Talent or Skill):
1. AIC (last week #1)
2. Conn (2)
3. Bentley (3)
4. Holy Cross (4)
5. Army (5)
6. Bowling Green (6)
7. Mercyhurst (7)
8. Clarkson (8)
9. Michigan Tech (9)
10. Harvard (10)
11. Dartmouth (11)
12. Niagara (13)
13. RobertMorris (14)
14. Western Michigan (15)
15. Princeton (16)
16. Brown (12)
17. Providence (17)
18. Alaska-Anchorage (18)

Sorry, Brown. Your ECAC Tournament performance dropped you right out of the BFB. That #16 seed has to go to Providence as the HEA autobid.
Here's the field:

#1 Seeds: AIC, Conn, Bentley & HolyCross (A clean sweep for Atlantic Hockey)
#2 Seeds: Army, BG, Mercyhurst & Clarkson
#3 Seeds: MTU, Harvard, Dartmouth & Niagara
#4 Seeds: RMU, WMU, Princeton & Providence.

Conference breakdown: Atlantic 6, ECAC 4, CHA 2, CCHA 2, WCHA 1, HEA 1

Now assign the #1 seeds (in order) sending each to the most remote regional available)

#1 AIC goes to the western regional at Moscow ID
#2 UConn goes to the midwest regional at Laurium MI
#3 Bentley goes to the northeast regional at Massena NY
#4 HolyCross goes to the east regional at Saugus MA

Next place the #2 seeds so that if both top seeds advance to the regional finals, match-ups would be 1v8, 2v7, 3v6 and 4v5:

#5 Army goes to the HolyCross bracket at Saugus
#6 BowlingGreen goes to the Bentley bracket at Massena
#7 Mercyhurst goes to the UConn bracket at Laurium
#8 Clarkson goes to the AIC bracket at Moscow

Next, place the #3 seeds so that first round games are 8v9, 7v10, 6v11 and 5v12, but avoiding intra conference match-ups.

#9 Michigan Tech plays #8 Clarkson in Moscow
#10 Harvard plays #7 Mercyhurst in Laurium
#11 Dartmouth plays #6 BowlingGreen in Massena
#12 Niagara plays #5 Army in Saugus

Finally, place the #4 seeds as follows 1v16, 2v15, 3v14, 4v13, again avoiding intra conference match-ups in the first round:

#13 RobtMorris plays #4 HolyCross in Saugus
#14 WesternMichigan plays #3 Bentley in Massena
#15 Princeton plays #2 UConn in Laurium
#16 Providence plays #1 AIC in Moscow

Here's the brackets:

Moscow ID
1. AIC
2. Clarkson
3. MichiganTech
4. Providence

Laurium MI
1. UConn
2. Mercyhurst
3. Harvard
4. Princeton

Massena NY
1. Bentley
2. BowlingGreen
3. Dartmouth
4. WesternMichigan

Saugus MA
1. HolyCross
2. Army
3. Niagara
4. RobertMorris

No intra-conference match-ups...CHECK.

Lots of long bus rides...13 out of 16 teams have bus rides of 6 hours or more. Only Dartmouth (4:25) to Massena, Army (3:59) and Holy Cross (1:19) to Saugus are shorter.

The committee considered several changes to eliminate these short trips, but in the end decided to make just one, swapping the #2 seeds between Saugus and Laurium. Sending Army to the UP instead of the Beanton 'burbs turns their bus trip from 3:19 to 19:50, while sending Mercyhurst east still leaves them with a bus ride of over 9 hours from Erie PA.

So here they are, cast in stone:

Moscow ID
1. AIC
2. Clarkson
3. MichiganTech
4. Providence

Laurium MI
1. UConn
2. Army
3. Harvard
4. Princeton

Massena NY
1. Bentley
2. BowlingGreen
3. Dartmouth
4. WesternMichigan

Saugus MA
1. HolyCross
2. Mercyhurst
3. Niagara
4. RobertMorris